Carburetor testing device and method



J E7, WU J EDELEN 94,936

CARBURETOR TESTING DEVICE AND METHOD Filed July 8, 1944 v INVENTOR. JAMES L. EDELEN atented Jan. 17, 1950 UNITED; STATES wee CARBU'RETOR' TESTING--DEVICE I AND @METHOD James L. Edelen, KirkwooilMonassignor to Car- 7 ter Qarburetor Corporation; St; Louis, M a ee rn f ienefi ele Appli ti n-1111s? l8, %Sfl1ialNo. 544,95

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c bur or .i vqlve lmeeeu the e e ii ies 5f iuel an cl air entering the carburetor and forrmng th mi u e d c arge thereb Lsu'ch d v ces method, and the necessary equipment, while behe es ent elend asib ihel mi r w r skilled operators are available are not practical and cost and the skill requiredto utilize them.

While itu ssibl t rat e eas l m a u t rat o f e le the -meens emee v f the .e com o e .-.m .re liffi ll If h ih et le gvelves i rburet rslwe rmae e ee ia el fi t e ure e ba r s the. e weld b ee e mined,atanye v n thr tt r po it o rom a u ad neh the ,slepre iQn p te ior -pr sewn st am 11116 th ettl s eeth ;.re fiel H flow throu h. a eetrie i .is repe t ena t9. th

cross s tional are 9 th :meifleiien an th d f e ence ef... .ressu on posite sides thereei Th t tle rel ;e nst tutesayer able restri t e he carburetor mixtu e z eneu ma ufa tu n naccura ies" pr ent the usele t m th d ve eem ere t earburetersei th same yp apnreeiebl va y n l ka e moceu pa he h ott e..i .f lly elesed s t at a given siep eesi n e te ie to. the thrott e weu d.

no ne e sa y ee empan t e. ame threttle r9- t is anebie t e th n e en inve tientei eri a m h d-end fle test n teart l ls a to e0 p n$ o v 0r amid th esu t of h a o e .ni n ione manu act rin n c ur c es A 1 ored a led ob ec i i rovise su l m o and mean h e in urin t a a. predee m ne uct ene e terio t .v h h o t W always aecom er ep ed termi ed an definit ,ensu a p t o o h rt ettl a direct relationship to the flglegree of throttle Opening and rate of airflow.

he e je tse uetherlmo detailed ebieet hereafter. ppe n ar at a ned, su tantially by the} device; lust at d i h eee mnanying drawing in which F s eee er l 1.-dieeremmatienewillustrating th rflew-ie tine; separate iQrr r o -rnir e-h l th '2 Eig zis enlarged detail section showing the carburetor mounting connection and the gate valvelthereinj 3 I "Ihe apparatus in the drawing comprises a 5 vacuumboxjhaving a'mounting'or connection} projecting there above and flanged for attachllrrlentv of a carburetor, as at I, having a manual throttle valve 8. A suction pump 9; driven bya l'Inotor [0, has its in let pipef ll connected to the y vacuumi box and has an outlet pipe I2 for dis.- ..f h re a ehen' ee ue e the ri ee charge toithe atmosphere. Thedepres'sion' in box measured by a triple tubeinanometer includin .it e liquid conta ers l4, l5 and i6, each vented to" theatmosphere and into each of which lfi extezids one of the tubfesfl'l, 18 or 19. Overflow ducts 2 0 and 2 l connfect the twohigher containers with the lowest which later has an overflow gi rain 22. of the: manometer tubes are connec ted by a tube ZS'to. the suction box so that the go depressio'n th rein; will register simultaneously 'in'all thr eei manometer tubes. A scale board mpuntedbehindtubes I1, 18 and Min such p0- sition as to indicatealiquid level in the upper part-of tube[ 'l1, in'thefintermediate part of tube ra fle, a d in the lower part or tube l9. Tubes "[1,

Ja and 19 are long enough to prevent drawing ithe indicating liquid into the suction box. scale board it is placed-in aposition conveniently J aligned with the openator s eyes so that the high- ,30 Jest suctions maybe read from tube l'l and sucf cessively lowersuctions from tubes 18 and i9. {Ihisarrangernentis advantageous since it permits the useof a relatively inexpensive and sensitive manometer fluid such as water or other 5 liquid substantially lighter than mercury. -Another convenient fqrm of manometer for this pvr eee is dis se and le me m n N0- iaee'e e An elevated constant level chamber 28 is cono ,nected lb y a tube?!) to a fuel pump or fuel tank L and by means-of a tube tll to a three way valve e nt elle b a e e ei 3 n condu 3 Ir .,mthe three w re va v sve neete to th a ;buretor fuel-inlet connection. The other conduit .fle ii l nd to the in teid of float bow 2 n -.he thre ,bmne es 3 1 a 38. ach co ne e to one of the burettes, ;3 j9, 4l3 and!!! provided v,rvv t a markin as sh w an ea ha in ,epni i e ve 4.2m a d e C n 3 50 is contreuedYWe al e 52 whichis open d t rapidly on theburettes. ,As best shown in Fig. 2, carburetor mounting connectionfi isprovided .with a gate al /e having an operating handle 4. whi liil dh ted to t h yi l s the. connecflitie iwhen dee ed- A p i .of butterfly valves 41 for a definite time through the'carburetor from one or another of the burettes 39, 40 or 4|, ac-.:

cording to which valve 42, 43 or 44 is open. The

different burettes provide for carburetors of dif ferent sizes and fuel requirements.

To set the apparatus for flow testing a particular carburetor, gate valve 45 is first tightly closed and, with the suction pump operating, the depression in box 5 is adjusted by fully opening valves 41 and 48 and varying the air bleeding through T fitting 49. This starting setting, as read on manometer tube I1, is adjusted to conform to a predetermined maximum reading, say, equivalent to 8" of mercury. The gate valve is then fully opened as is the carburetor throttle 8, and the vacuum box depression again adjusted by means of one of the butterfly valves 41 or 48 to a predetermined minimum value, say, 1.3" Hg, as read on manometer tube 19. Thereafter, the

depression or suction in the box and the rate of 42, 43, and 44 will be opened in accordance with the capacity of the carburetor. The functioning of the carburetor at any suction compared to that of a carburetor in good condition, can be accurately determined merely by measuring the rate of fuel flow at that suction as read on one of the manometers. This is so because with a given depression in the vacuum box, the rate of air flow through the carburetor and any other similar carburetor will always be the same so that the factor of air flow may be ignored in a comparison between two carburetors of identical design. At the end of the test, the timer cuts off the connection between tubes 35 and 34 so that the quantity of gasoline used can be read from the burette in use.

Thus a reference chart can be provided indicating the proper rate of fuel flow at various suctions with the assurance that the proportions of fuel and air supplied will be proper if the rate of fuel flow conforms. This would be impossible without the gate valve 45, since in production carburetors, the throttle valve does not accurately fit the carburetor bore so that there is a variable amount of leakage around the throttle in its closed position and the suction may vary in different carburetors with their throttles in the same apparent position. If the maximum or starting depression in the vacuum box were set merely by closing thecarburetor throttle, a given depression in the vacuum box would not accurately reflect a particular throttle position and, consequently, rate of air flow.

The maximum and minimum depression figures used in setting the apparatus preferably are determined to utilize the full lengths of the acip manometer tubes and thus obtain maximum sensitivity. These do not need to bear any particular relationship to actual working conditions as the test is solely comparative and designed to indicate only whether the instrument being tested needs repair.

By the use of a novel apparatus and method as described above, it is possible for the mechanic in an ordinary repair shop to accurately determine the functioning of a carburetor at various throttle positions and he may, therefore, feel 3 assured either that the carburetor needs repair p or that his work has been successful.

The invention may be modified in various respects as will occur to those skilled in the art and the exclusive use of all modifications as come within the scope of the appended claims is contemplated.

I claim:

1. The method of flow testing a carburetor having a throttle'which consists in attaching the carburetor to a suction chamber and a measured fuel supply, closing the connection between the carburetor and chamber, applying a predetermined maximum suction to the chamber, opening the connection between the carburetor and chamber so as to draw air through the carburetor, setting the chamber suction at a predetermined minimum with the carburetor throttle fully open. and then determining the rate of fuel flow through the carburetor at various predetermined throttle settings.

2. The method of flow testing a carburetor having a throttle which consists in connecting the carburetor to a chamber having a suction pump also connected thereto, tightly closing the connection between the chamber and carburetor, evacuating the chamber with the suction pump, adjusting the chamber depression to a predetermined maximum by bleeding air thereinto, opening the carburetor throttle and the connection between the chamber and carburetor so as to draw full volume of air through the carburetor, valving the connection between the chamber and pump to adjust the chamber depression to a predetermined minimum, feeding fuel to the carburetor, and measuring the rate of fuel flow at various known throttle positions.

3. The method of flow testing a carburetor which consists in connecting the carburetor and a suction pump to a suction chamber, reducing the pressure in said chamber tightly closing the connection between the carburetor and chamber, bleeding air into the chamber to adjust the depression therein to a predetermined maximum, opening said connection and the carburetor throttle so as to draw a maximum volume of air through the carburetor, restricting the connection between the chamber and pump to adjust the chamber depression to a predetermined minimum, feeding fuel to the carburetor, and measuring the rate of fuel flow at various predetermined, restricting throttle positions.

4. The method of flow testing a carburetor which consists in connecting the carburetor outlet to a chamber also having a suction pump connected thereto, tightly closing the connection between the carburetor and chamber, operating the pump, bleeding air into the pump connection to adjust the chamber depression to a predetermined maximum starting value, fully opening the carburetor throttle and the carburetor connection to the suction chamber, restricting the pump connection to the chamber to adjust the chamber depression to a predetermined minimum whereby the chamber depression is exactly proportional to the degree of throttle opening, and measuring the rate of fuel flow at various known throttle positions.

5. A flow test machine for carburetors comprising a vacuum chamber having a carburetor mounting connection, means to indicate the depression in said chamber, a valve in said connection for tightly closing the same, a suction pump having a connection to said chamber, an air bleed in said pump connection for adjusting the chamber depression with said valve closed, a valve in said pump connection for adjusting the chamber depression With said first valve and the carburetor throttle fully open, and a fuel flow meter for feeding measured quantities of fuel to the carburetor.

JAMES L. EDELEN.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS 

